MBARI engineers have recovered the experimental wave energy buoy for maintenance, after it had been deployed in the sea for over 4 months.
During this deployment, the buoy supplied power for instruments used to collect data for engineering purposes.
It was deployed 9 km southwest of Moss Landing Harbor, while the engineers tested the system’s ability to deal with storms.
The buoy is approximately 2.5 m across, with a cylindrical wave-power converter containing two pistons, pneumatic spring, hydraulic system, and electrical system located beneath the water surface.
Below the power converter hangs a fiberglass and metal plate, 4 m wide and 3 m long, which is used to provide the necessary resistance to operate buoy’s piston systems.
The linear motion of the pistons inside the cylinder drives the generation of electricity from ocean waves. The current version of the power buoy can generate 300 to 400 W of power during average wave activity, and up to 1.000 W during storm conditions.
The buoy is sitll in experimental phase, and the engineers aim to develop the device further to be used for powering research instruments and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
The engineering team plans to deploy the buoy again in the fall, 2015.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit research center concerned with the development of instruments, systems, and methods for scientific research of the ocean.
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Image: Sonia Vargas/MBARI